Taiwan will continue its efforts alongside other nations and global organizations to help Syrians rebuild their country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
As a member of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, or the Islamic State, Taiwan remains committed to assisting Syrians so they can quickly return to a stable and peaceful life, the ministry said in a statement, but did not elaborate on how Taiwan is to help.
Since 2014, Taiwan has been a member of the coalition and has been providing humanitarian assistance in war-torn Syria, the ministry said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuen, Taipei Times
Through official channels and non-governmental organizations, Taiwan has donated 350 prefabricated houses, a mobile hospital, winter clothing and rice to people in Syria, and to Syrian refugees in Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, who have been displaced as a result of the armed conflict with the Islamic State group, the ministry said.
Taiwan has also provided funding and equipment to help clear mines in Syria, it said.
Last month, a delegation led by Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰) attended a meeting of ministerial officials from 74 nations and five international organizations hosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington to discuss countermeasures against Muslim terrorist groups.
In response to a call by Pompeo, Kao said at the meeting that Taiwan would donate US$500,000 to Nadia’s Initiative — which was founded in 2016 by Nadia Murad, who last year won the Nobel Peace Prize — to advocate for victims of sexual violence and to help rebuild communities in crisis.
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday last week announced that they had regained all of the territory controlled by the Islamic State group, bringing an end to the “caliphate” it declared in 2014.
Following the announcement, the US Department of State said that humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and stability operations would be the focus of its missions in Syria and Iraq.
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